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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23417929">Smile</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saber_Wing/pseuds/Saber_Wing'>Saber_Wing</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Feels, BAMF Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Character Study, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Smut, Romance, Superhusbands (Marvel), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Very Mild I Mean It</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:07:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,152</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23417929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saber_Wing/pseuds/Saber_Wing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“How do you do that?” The words were a soft murmur, barely audible, to anyone with normal ears, but Steve heard Bucky loud and clear. He blinked at him, a little bemused. More puzzled, than anything.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I don’t understand.” Steve frowned. “What—"</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“He smiles for you.” Bucky swallowed hard. Couldn’t make himself speak, past the lump in his throat. “Teach me how.”</i>
</p><p>Bucky witnesses a private moment, and wonders.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>407</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Smile</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Also available in <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/221167266-stony-transfic-smile">Vietnamese</a>, translated by oceanbluemoon </p><p>Disclaimer: the art they've used for the story on wattpad does not belong to me.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bucky hadn’t known Tony Stark for long, but he respected what he saw.</p><p>Stark didn’t like people much. Bucky could appreciate that. But he <em>understood</em> them. How they moved and acted. He knew how to mislead and play them like fiddles. How to bat his eyelashes as effectively as any seductress. His targets wouldn’t even know they’d been disarmed until their gun had been kicked across the room. And he did it with a warmth his victims found themselves gravitating towards, like moths to a flame.</p><p>Bucky knew talent when he saw it, and Stark had it in spades. He knew the shadows people feared. The things they hid from, that went ‘bump’ in the night. He knew how to peel away their layers and masks until you were left with nothing but a raw, beating heart. A soft vulnerability that could—and would—get you killed.</p><p>Bucky knew all these things, too. He knew what people were. What they looked like when they smiled, and what each one meant.</p><p>Tony Stark had <em>many </em>smiles. Different masks, all with a different purpose.</p><p>A soft curve here, to mimic friendliness. A sardonic tilt of the lips, when he went in for the kill. He seemed to know which one to use at any given time. Which suit of armor was best designed to get him what he wanted. They all belonged to a man the world thought they knew. A genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.</p><p>This smile was none of them. And Bucky couldn’t look away.</p><p>They were in the kitchen. Steve and Tony. Bucky was on the living room couch. The one in the corner no one paid any attention to. He shouldn’t be witnessing this. He shouldn’t be here, but the two of <em>them </em>had eyes only for each other.</p><p>Steve said something to Tony – leaned in close. Even with Bucky’s enhanced hearing, he couldn’t quite make out the words. Whatever they were, they seemed to have the right effect. Tony threw his head back and laughed. Smiled so wide, his eyes crinkled.</p><p>His brown eyes shone bright, lit from within. More brilliant than that contraption in his chest could ever hope to be.</p><p>Steve gripped him around the waist, set him on the counter, and Tony <em>giggled. </em>A sound so joyful, it seemed out of place. He wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck. Leaned in for a kiss. Tony was wearing a nice suit – he must have been on his way out when Steve caught him, coming in from his morning run. Bucky could only see half of Steve’s face from this angle, but he met Tony’s advance eagerly.</p><p>Clearly, Steve knew what he was doing. How to coax the response he wanted. He captured Tony’s lips. Nipped at them. Parted them with his tongue. Bucky wasn’t sure if he should count his enhanced senses as a blessing, or a curse, but either way, he could see everything.</p><p>That was all it took to draw a moan from the billionaire’s lips. Steve moved to push him backward, working at the buttons on his suit jacket, but just as Bucky was contemplating leaving – he could escape the room with no one the wiser – Tony shoved him away, with a breathless scoff.</p><p>“Steve, I have to <em>go</em>,” Tony admonished, still laughing. “I’m gonna be late.”</p><p>“Are you <em>sure?” </em>Steve nuzzled at the hollow of his throat. Nipped at a spot that made Tony’s eyes roll back.</p><p>Tony moaned again – this time, in what seemed to be equal parts arousal and regret. “That’s not <em>fair, </em>but please never stop. <em>You </em>can call Pepper and explain what a deviant my husband is. She won’t believe <em>me.”</em></p><p>Steve laughed, gripping Tony around the waist again. He lifted him up and sat him back down on the floor, straightening his suit jacket. Smoothing out his tie. “Go to work.”</p><p>“Tease.” Tony tilted his head at Steve. Batted those big brown eyes he used to bring the world to its knees. “What’s in it for me?”</p><p>“Don’t argue, and maybe you’ll find out.” Steve leaned in to kiss him again. This one seemed tamer, more chaste than the last. “<em>Later.”</em></p><p>“I’ll hold you to that.” Tony reached for Steve. Held his face in his hands. “Temptress.”</p><p>Steve took one of Tony’s hands, and kissed his knuckles. “I love you.”</p><p>That smile, again. The one the world never saw. The one that made Tony’s face melt, and his eyes glow. It was wide, toothy. <em>Joyful. </em>It took <em>years </em>off his face. Made Bucky think of a love that <em>could </em>be.</p><p>It made him think of red hair, and green eyes. Of a woman who didn’t like people much but knew them very well. It made him think of the Black Widow, and the masks she wore. The masks that were so much a part of her, she couldn’t remember ever taking them off.</p><p>Bucky thought of the woman he glimpsed through the cracks. He thought of Natasha, and the mountains he’d move to bring that light into her eyes.</p><p>He sat in silence as Tony kissed his husband goodbye. As he whispered, <em>‘I love you,’ </em>in a hush that was meant just for them. He watched as Tony walked backwards toward the elevator, so he could see Steve until the very last moment he disappeared. And he wanted that.</p><p>He wanted that.</p><p>Steve stared at the elevator doors for a few seconds after they’d closed. Smiled, with that starry-eyed stare he always fixed upon Tony, when he thought no one could see. He turned toward the living room where Bucky still sat. Bound for that chair in the opposite corner, where he kept those paperback mystery novels, the ones he couldn’t get enough of…and froze in the doorway. Put his hands on his hips when his eyes alighted on Bucky, watching him.</p><p>His lips tilted, face mischievous. This was typically the moment Steve would cuff him upside the head. <em>‘Hey, what’s the big idea?’ </em>But something in Bucky’s expression must have warned him off, because Steve paused.</p><p>He wandered over to sit beside Bucky. Tilted his head, a question in his gaze. And Bucky wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to say it. Wanted someone else to hear.</p><p>“How do you do that?” The words were a soft murmur, barely audible, to anyone with normal ears, but Steve heard Bucky loud and clear. He blinked at him, a little bemused. More puzzled, than anything.</p><p>“I don’t understand.” Steve frowned. “What—"</p><p>“He smiles for you.” Bucky swallowed hard. Couldn’t make himself speak, past the lump in his throat. “Teach me how.”</p><p>Bucky witnessed the moment his friend understood. And Steve didn’t need Bucky to explain what – who – he meant.</p><p>Steve smiled a sad smile. Squeezed Bucky’s knee.</p><p>“Give it time,” he answered, so much compassion shining in his soft blue eyes, Bucky had to look away. “Just cherish her.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I do love writing Steve and Tony from someone else's eyes, and I enjoyed writing Bucky so much last time, that when my muse presented the idea, I couldn't refuse. The Bucky/Natasha snuck in there. Not my usual stuff, but I think I need to shake it up more often :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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